Here’s what makes Bollywood films so special. Bollywood is known for its elaborate songs and dance sequence, or the romantic melodrama and what comes to our mind is the prominent sets. But making a film is much more to do.
Bollywood combines “Bombay” (now Mumbai) and “Hollywood”. Based in Bombay, the Hindi film industry earned its name and dominates Indian cinema, generating around 44% of net box office revenues.
Bollywood Films: Lights, Camera, Action!
Hindi Cinema is popularly known as Bollywood. The industry that produces films in Hindi language. It is a part of the Indian Cinema which includes films made in other languages such as Telugu or Malayalam or Tamil etc. Indian cinema however is the umbrella term which includes films of all regions of India.
Dadasaheb Phalke directed the 1913 film “Raja Harischandra”, launching the Hindi film industry and earning the title “Father of Indian Cinema”. Later, Ardeshir Irani’s “Alam Ara” (1931) marked the transition to sound, featuring numerous songs. The transition from silent films to sound arrived with the film Alam Ara in 1931 directed by Ardeshir Irani which featured many songs then.
For example, in 2017 when Indian cinema produced about 1986 feature films the largest number of films produced were in 364 Hindi films while 33% of Hindi cinema represented at the box office for its revenue. Telugu and Tamil films followed respectively at 20% and 16% each. Bollywood sells an estimated 341 million tickets in India alone, making it one of the largest film production centers globally.
The Making of Iconic Bollywood Films
Bombay-based film trade journals coined the term “Bollywood” between 1960 and 1970. Film Journalist Bevind Collaco had even coined the term Bollywood for her column in the popular filmy newspaper called the ‘Screen’ a popular tabloid . Her popular column, “On the Bollywood Beat”, delivered the latest studio and celebrity news.
India has the largest film industry in terms of film releases every year, if we have to include Tollywood of Telegu language films or Kollywood , the Tamil language films . The first talkie was in 1931 , a silent film released by Bollywood. Thereafter Bollywood movies earned tremendous popularity among the movie buffs and audiences. Silent films were predominant featuring historical and mythological stories before that or in the early years. Alam Ara was the first movie that introduced the music and dialogues in the Hindi film landscape marking a significant change for the better.
Indian cinema retains its own characteristics with its unique and aesthetic concepts with narrative structures and with an element of tradition. The music , songs and dance plays an important part of the Bollywood films due to which these sequences also have great settings and costumes that are trendy colorful and traditional according to the dance or song sequence.
The music scenes are usually with a narrative plot and it is a way for the character to express their feelings. Bollywood filmmakers have made their films more realistic over the years, shifting from traditional lip-syncing musical sequences to often using songs as background scores in scenes. Music tells you a story in a Bollywood film as it adds the essence to the scene.
Elaborating Bollywood Film Making
The milestones in early history of Bollywood was the advent of Lumiere Brothers who showcased their films in Bombay now called Mumbai which had marked the beginning of Indian cinema .
Aredeshir Irani made the first Hindi color film, “Kisan Kanya”. Later, the term “Bollywood” was coined to signify Hindi cinema, gaining popularity from the 1970s onwards.
Nasir Hussain directed the 1973 film “Yaadon Ki Baarat”, a masala movie featuring a multi-star cast, which is considered Bollywood’s first typical film. The commercial films flourished in the 1980-1981 with the films like, ‘Ek Duuje Ke Liye’ and films like ‘Disco Dancer’ or ‘ Himmatwala’ in the year 1980’s.
Development of a story or a script
A writer or screen writer initially develops a story which is the presented to the production houses like the Yash Raj Productions, or Dharma Productions, Excel Entertainment . As these distributors involve in the production of the film
The production team hires actors, directors, and crew members, and plans shooting locations, scouting sites and scheduling dates, after script approval.
Film production process is filming which takes about few weeks to months or a year or more too in some cases, depending on the complexity of the films.
Behind the Scenes of Bollywood’s Biggest Films
After filming wraps, the post-production team enhances the movie by editing footage, mixing sounds, and adding visual effects, preparing it for review and approval prior to release.
After completing post-production, filmmakers unveil their movie in theaters, where critics review it, and a select team attends exclusive premiere and pre-release screenings.
Due to complex production timelines, filmmakers typically break big-budget shoots into manageable sections, incorporating breaks along the way.
Filmmakers can create larger-than-life visual experiences on low budgets by utilizing clever techniques, making Bollywood films accessible to a wide range of productions.
Box office ticket sales for revenue generation is a primary source for Bollywood films. Distributors and theatres most of the times share the revenue with the theatres also paying taxes like the GST. Bollywood in general has had a competitive industry with successful films with the established actors and actresses .
The modern Bollywood Industry has continued to evolve and has embraced new technologies such as AI and the genre while it maintains the standard cultural significance.
The modern Bollywood refers to the contemporary Hindi film industry. It often featured as a Western influence and the global cultural audience that incorporated the characteristics of Bollywood.
Western influence has introduced new elements, genres, and social issues to cater to global audiences, mirroring Hollywood, and expanding the film’s reach across countries and cultures. The Bollywood has created space for the diversity in the narrative as well as addressing the mainstream cinema which includes the modern western lifestyles and the blend of unique to traditional stories scripted, produced, directed and distributed through Bollywood .
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